Earth Day is tomorrow (April 22, 2011), and businesses around the world are commemorating the occasion in many different ways. Some employers are going so far as to reward proactive staff members through incentives that encourage environmental awareness.
Jones Lang LaSalle is one player from the global commercial real estate sector that has made a significant effort in these activities. The company is inviting employees to participate in Earth 2011 in the following ways:
- In the week leading up to Earth Day (known as Earth Week), employees from around the world have been submitting short posts on green topics to the company’s Green Blog, a public forum where the firm’s energy and sustainability executives discuss environmentally themed topics all year. Earth Week bloggers receive a gift card for free music downloads that can be planted in the ground to grow a tree after use; and the blog post that receives the most “like” votes from colleagues and friends will win the grand prize worth $100 or more.
- The firm is sponsoring an entry in the Solar Decathlon, a high profile event wherein students compete to create the most energy efficient home on the National Mall in Washington, DC. For Earth Day, employees are invited to donate to the sponsorship and receive an organic T-shirt with a specially designed Earth Day design.
- In recent years, Jones Lang LaSalle has engaged employees in Earth Day by:
- Soliciting green ideas that people can use at home or at work and awarding cash prizes to the people and teams that submit the best ideas.
- Asking employees to vote for one of three tree planting initiatives around the world, with the company making a donation to the initiative that received the most votes
- Offering 40 ideas (in observance of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day in 2010) that employees can use in the workplace to be green.
Sustainability is important to Jones Lang LaSalle’s business in terms of serving clients as well as engaging employees. The firm’s Energy and Sustainability Services group helped clients reduce energy costs by $128 million in 2010, and its 580+ LEED Accredited Professionals have helped gain LEED certification for more than 200 client properties to date.
